Emerging Global World

Emerging Global World

Olmec

They were from Mexico. They mysteriously disappeared between 400 B.C. and 200 B.C. Seemed to have had a large class of farmers and a small elite. This elite held military. large class of farmers and a small elite. Elite held religious power. They left behind 15 giant stone heads.

Mayan

Occupied most of the Yactoh peninsula. Population declined sharply, people fled from the cities. ruled by kings and priests. Were skilled architects and engineers. Worship of many gods. Built many steep, pyramid-shaped temples.

Aztec

Settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and built their city, Tenochtitlan. In the late A.D. 1400s, unrest grew among surrounding peoples. Military dominated Aztec society. they worshipped Quetzalcoatl. Learned metal working, pottery making, and weaving.

Inca

West coast of South America and the Indes mountains. Spaniards destroyed this empire. emperor had absolute power. One small ethnic group among many. Polytheistic religion. Their art was pottery.

Zheng He

Led voyages in South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Helped to extend Chinese maritime and commercial influence throughout the regions bordering the Indian Ocean.

Vasco Da Gama

Vasco da Gama was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India.

Christopher Columbus

Famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492.

Ferdinand Magellan

While in the service of Spain, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe.

James Cook

Cook was an 18th century explorer and navigator whose achievements in mapping the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia radically changed western perceptions of world geography.

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer and cartographer best known for establishing and governing the settlements of New France and the city of Quebec.

Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life.

New World

Western Hemisphere.

Old World

Eastern Hemisphere.

Advancing European Exploration

Development of astrolabe and compass allowed navigation in the open sea using the Sun and the stars to guide the navigators. The caravels were fast for their time and very maneuverable.

Triangular Trade

Involved three journeys each with the promise of a large profit and a full cargo.

Middle Passage

Slaves were being transported from Africa to America.

Copernicus

Developed the heliocentric, or "sun centered" theory.

Galileo

Developed the telescope.

Kepler

Made the laws of planetary motion.

Newton

Proposed the law of universal gravitational.

Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course: World History #21